Steve Duin | The Oregonian/OregonLive

About Me:

Steve Duin is The Oregonian's Metro columnist. He is the author/co-author of six books, including "Comics: Between the Panels," a history of comics; "Father Time," a collection of his columns on family and fatherhood; and a graphic novel, "Oil and Water." His last name, for inexplicable reasons, is pronounced "Dean."

Viking ...
Lying to a jury? I'm with you on the five percent (and 95 percent of your argument here).
The issue for me has long been how the bureau handles the outliers: the cop who can't be trusted when the heat -- or the courthouse tape recorder -- is on.
Frashour is in that camp. Reese responded admirably. And now the union is going all "We Are Ron Frashour" on us.
Was the ending slightly over the top? You bet it was. But Wilkinson's logic and argument would cover the patrol officer who over-reacted in that situation, just as it provides cover for Frashour here.

Viking:
How many examples do you want?
The 2009 Leo Besner case?
(http://www.oregonlive.com/news/index.ssf/2009/09/jury_awards_damages_to_three_m.html)
The 2011 Kevin Tully case?
(http://www.oregonlive.com/news/oregonian/steve_duin/index.ssf/2011/02/the_truth_about_police_who_lie.html)
I understand that reasonable people can disagree.
But, please, let's not pretend that you and I both don't know how, all too often, the game is played.

Viking ...
You wanna go through this witness by witness on Campbell's reaction after getting hit by the beanbag round(s)?
I noticed you ignored Ryan Pannell: "It appeared obvious to him that it was a pain reaction."
You ignored Jenna Peterson: "To her, it looked like a pain reaction to being shot with the beanbag ... She recalled that at some point during the next few seconds, Mr. Campbell reached for his waistband with his left hand and she thought it appeared that he was trying to pull up his baggy pants."
But, heck, I'm impressed that you're actually quoting a civilian witness.
Because you're right: The civilians haven't been schooled in the key words to use that provides them with the cover they need to deal with the grand juries and arbitrators.

Jack Roberts was suggesting few houses are on the market.
That's not the case.
But even a $260,000 home requires a $52,000 down payment, which is far beyond the reach of a family living on or near the poverty line.
The column argues that helping a few of those families would (if nothing else) benefit a school district that has closed one-third of its elementary schools in the last two years.

Thanks, Jack.
There were -- last time I checked -- 95 homes in Lake Oswego listed for sale for $260,000 or less.
It may well be that public policies can't help to shoehorn low-income families into those homes. (We can always ask SouthLake to come to the rescue, right?) But I'd love to hear that seirous conversation.

By "looking to keep the city livable," I trust you mean predominantly white, upper middle-class and isolated.
I have several limousines at the house. And I spend considerable time in neighborhoods where folks apparently haven't cleaned up their act. In those neighborhoods, I too often see 11-year-olds sitting alone at bus stops at 9 o'clock at night and the kids who are jammed into the dirt-bag apartments at S.E. 82nd and Division.
And you're right: Given enough guts and determination, they'll survive. But so will Lake Oswego if a hundred of those kids find a home inside the moat, and benefit from the city's schools, parks, athletic programs and community pride.

Katuba ...
" ... where no one but you and I read it ..."
When you reference sitting nude by the pool on bug-free summer nights, I figure you set off the sirens wherever judahlevi and the baron call home.

Pounder:
Thank you.
That's a tremendous read ... by Jess Walter, the author of "The Financial Lives of the Poets" and (just released) "Beautiful Ruins."
This is my favorite entry in Walter's abstract:
47. I think there are only two things you can do with your hometown: look for ways to make it better, or look for another place to live.

Ed ...
I trust so many people are trying to get into teaching because they love working with kids and making a difference.
The sort of difference Adrian Anderson makes at Seaside High School, which I wrote about on the blog Thursday night.
I would add that in the process, they're willing to put up with the sort of carping you indulge in here, but I'm guessing they don't have the time to pay much attention to it.